This factsheet highlights how the alcohol industry’s CSR initiatives often serve as marketing tools rather than genuine public health efforts.
CSR activities—such as education, disaster relief, and health donations—are used to build brand identity, promote products, and influence public perception and policy.
Evidence shows these initiatives rarely reduce alcohol harm and often mask conflicts of interest.
In sub-Saharan Africa, CSR has included sports sponsorships, youth-targeted campaigns, and partnerships with government officials.
FORUT urges governments and civil society to reject the alcohol industry’s CSR and instead implement evidence-based policies like the WHO SAFER Initiative.
Recommended citation:
FORUT. (2025). The Problem with Alcohol Industry Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Gjøvik, Norway: FORUT. https://forut.no/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20250410_Alcohol-Industri-CSR-Factsheet-2.pdf
Based on:
Mitchell, G. and Uny, I. (2025) ‘Pursuing profit at the expense of public health?
Examples of alcohol industry activity across six countries in sub-Saharan Africa
based on the crowdsourcing method’, FORUT